Ryan
by GigiK
Summary: An undercover opp takes an unexpected turn no one was expecting. (I'll update this and give better description. First story ever:)
1. Chapter 1

**Hi, so this is my first Fanfiction story ever. Hope you like it. Please review. Excuse this first chapter – it's a lot of back story. All mistakes are my own. I might change the Rating in a later chapter.**

**DISCLAIMER – I don't own anything but my imagination. I wish I owned NCIS: LA...Deeks...Callen...**

Her competitive nature got in the way sometimes. Okay – a lot of the time. Today was no different. The four of them were undercover as part of a Joint Exercise between the Navy and Army - "Operation Slow Hammer." This opp was also part of an undercover Joint Task Force between NCIS and Army CID – the Army's counterpart to NCIS.

Kensi had just come in fourth among the women competitors, but a disappointing eighteenth overall after a three-day exercise. How depressing was that. Especially since Deeks came in sixth overall just behind Sam and Callen. Deeks for goodness sake! What's wrong with that picture.

A lot. Too much for her bruised ego to handle. So, against everyone's better judgment, Kensi signed the group up for a special round of "trust" exercises. If they passed all the scenarios – it would deduct seven minutes for every successful outcome. If they came in First -a fifteen minute deduction that could be used once during the remaining tasks scheduled over the remaining four days of competition. They only needed to be in the top ten to make it to the semi-finals were it was believed that several of the teams competing were planning on selling Classified Information and Biological Weapons to the highest bidder during the final week of competition.

Deeks tried to talk Kensi out of her obsession for being number one. Reminding her that they were right were they needed to be to pull of this mission. To say Kensi can be stubborn is like saying that a desert has a lot of sand. Which is how they all wound up in a scavenger hunt and working with live explosives in a rural part of California State Route 14 on a Sunday morning instead of sleeping-in in a comfy hotel room.

"No Kensi. This is too dangerous. It's my turn." Sam said for the tenth time that morning.

"Come on Sam. I'll be fine. Plus, we need you for the relay this afternoon. You know the rules. One role per person per day. I'll be fine. Besides, I know you'll have my back." Kensi said with a determined look.

"She's right Sam. Plus, two of the teams competing are on our list. It'll give us more time to scope them out" Callen said.

Deeks, who hadn't said anything in fifteen minutes, sat off the side watching the other teams gather around home-plate where the next challenge would start in less than five minutes.

Sam turned to Deeks for his support, but was surprised and a little concerned by Deeks strange behavior. He hoped this was simply because Deeks really hated deserts and nothing more.

"Hey Deeks, want to chime in here? Deeks?"

Deeks, embarrassed to be caught off-guard, smirked and said, "Hey, leave me out of this Sam. I still have the bruises from the last time I tried to tell Kensi what to do. You're on you're own man."

Kensi smirked knowing she had won.

Callen, seeing the smirk, said, "Don't get too comfortable Kensi – especially when Hetti finds out what you've done. Well – I'm glad it's not me."

Kensi, hearing this lost the smirk and started to get apprehensive. "_Maybe this wasn't such a good idea after all._" Kensi thought to herself.

Just as she was about to tell Sam she gives up – over the loud speaker the announcement for the scavenger hunt was about to start.

"So much for that. Let the games begin." Kensi mumbled to herself psyching herself up to not only kick some ass but also not blow herself up with explosives she about to handle.

"_What the hell was I thinking?_" Kensi asked herself not for the first time since being handled a live explosive device. She wasn't carrying anything unstable like Nitroglycerin, but if she wasn't careful she could lose a body part or two.

The government owned most of the land and buildings in the surrounding area where most of the exercises were taking place. They were mainly abandoned former military housing now obsolete waiting to be torn down. But like many things the government did, it would probably be another five or ten years on top of the eight so far before the buildings were demolished. In the meantime they made excellent training grounds. Of course there were still one or two private dwellings within the area. But most forgot they existed.

Kensi and the gang didn't even know they existed, thinking everything in sight was US GOVERNMENT PROPERTY. So, she thought nothing of it when she made a right out of the ball field parking lot while almost everyone else made a left. Her strategy was simple. Out-think and outlast everyone till she found the coveted prize – a medium size bull dog – the US Marine Corps mascot. The organizers of the exercise thought it would be funny to blow up the Corps mascot. Of course they didn't tell the few Recon teams that were participating in the exercises.

Kensi, so focused on the mission didn't realize that she was right on the border of Government/Private Property. But the two sets of eyes who had been watching her for the past twenty minutes did.


	2. Chapter 2

**Author Note: Wow, thank you so much for everyone who's left a review, following my story and who has read my story. I so appreciate it. The errors are my own. Editing is not my forte. Hopefully the story will kick into gear now... Please keep the comments coming...detailed even better. Thanks.**

**DISCLAIMER: Sadly, I don't own anything but my imagination. If only...**

Kensi slowly took in her surrounding. She was walking down a deserted street with a few houses littering the street on the left and only trees and nothingness on the right. If she wasn't Kensi Blye, trained Federal Agent extraordinaire and her Father's daughter – she would have stopped in her tracks and rushed back to civilization. There was just something off about this place. A sense of foreboding hit Kensi in the gut like a ton of bricks.

"Come on, you're NO Baby. Besides you're armed. You're a Bad Ass." Kensi whispered out load as she unconsciously touched the cold metal sitting snugly against her back.

As she approached the bend in the road she walked down – she stopped suddenly. "_What was that?_" she thought. A second ago, a flicker of movement caught her attention. At the corner of her vision - "_There it is again_."

"Hello? Is someone there?"

Kensi looked around her again. Searching. There, to her left, the tall bushes along the road bend - a shimmer of movement. Someone or something was there. Watching. Waiting.

Moving without thought Kensi rushed the bushes, her hand at her back. Ready.

"WHAT THE HELL!" Kensi yelled as she found the culprits.

Huddled behind the bushes, covered in dust and looking guilty and a little scared sat two children and a fur ball of some kind.

Realizing they were no threat , Kensi crouched down and smiled at the scared children.

"Hi. My name is Kensi. What's yours?" she asked as she tried to get a read from the two in front of her. She wished Sam or Deeks were here.

A boy of about ten with huge big blue eyes and light brown hair sat protectively next to a girl of the same age with deep green eyes and a long blond hair that was falling out of pigtail. The little girl, who appeared older seemed terrified of Kensi as she clutched what appeared to be a very shaggy puppy, a pathetic looking puppy.

Trying a different tact, she said "What's your puppy's name?"

The girl, unsure what to do, looked at the boy. If Kensi wasn't so focused on them she may have missed the silent communication between the two of them.

"His name is Fuzzy." The shy girl said with a smile.

As though a decision had been made the boy cautiously reached out his hand as if to shake Kensi's hand.

She shook the offered hand, noting how skinny his arm was. But she could also feel the steel strength that pulsed through him. The boy for some reason reminded her of Deeks. But she couldn't place why.

"My name is Ryan and this is Madison" the blue-eyed boy said almost like a challenge. He stared at her – judging her.

"Well, it's nice to meet you Ryan. Madison."

"Are you in the Military?" Madison whispered.

"What makes you ask?" Kensi wondered, already feeling these two kids had penetrated her protective shield.

"We saw you earlier with all the military people before." Madison said, looking away as if caught doing something bad.

Kensi laughed. She'd felt eyes watching her since leaving the Ball Park.

"Were you two following me?"

The boy, a mischievous look, said, "You're the only one who guessed right. We wanted to see if you found it."

A new spark entered Madison's eyes, "We've been waiting forever."

Amused, Kensi asked "Forever?"

Ryan, looking Kensi head on decided to trust her. "Yeah, three days."

Madison, no longer able to sit still jumped up with her little dog in her hands, excitement and energy rolling off her in ways. "Chris said we couldn't play with the Doggie but after it was found he'd bring me a bigger one to play with. Come on. Let's go!" She said reaching for Kensi.

Kensi was enamored by these two kids. She couldn't help but get sucked into Madison's enthusiasm. She got up and took the offered hand.

"Okay. But no cheating. The most you can tell me is if I'm getting Hot or Cold." Kensi said in an authoritative voice.

"Okay" both kids said at the same time.

Kensi, with her new friends walked back toward the center of the street to get her bearings. Madison on her left, swinging Kensi's hand and Ryan on her right silently watching. His silent intensity should have been off-putting, but there was just something about this kid that just called to her soul. It was if she was looking at a young version of Marty Deeks. How strange.

"Okay. Which way?" Kensi asked.

Madison took off pulling Kensi and Ryan with her.


	3. Chapter 3

**Author Note: Thank you thank you Thank you. I really appreciate all the comments, followers and readers. As a novelist, you write in a bubble, never knowing if what you write or how you write will translate the way you want. So, I so appreciate the validation.**

**Okay. Enough of that. Anyway, back to the story... I know where the story ends up, not necessarily how. Hope you keep reading. Sorry for the short chapter. Hopefully next time real soon I can post 2 chapters at once.**

**DISCLAIMER: I only own NCIS: LA in my dreams. Damn, did I have to wake up. I own nothing but my imagination. DEEKS...CALLEN...Ugh!**

Deeks knew he needed to get his head in the game. But knowing what happened today all those years ago is really messing with him. Bad. If he had known this opp was gonna take this long he would have come up with an excuse and bailed. He was a liability to his team. But no matter how hard he tried to pull himself of this funk and treat today like any other, well it just wasn't happening.

He's felt real terror only a couple of times in his 34 years. But that day it was if the gates of HELL opened up and tried to suck into the black void of never-ending pain and anguish. He's survived Hell-on-Earth more times than he cares to remember. Unconsciously knowing it was penance for what happened that day. For what he did. He knew he wasn't really worthy to be an agent like Kensi, Sam and Callen. He put on a good front. He was after all one of the best undercover operatives. He knew how to fake it. But, he couldn't delude himself into thinking he really belonged among the Elite. So, instead he kept the application Hetty gave him. He couldn't force himself to destroy it, actually he signed the damn thing the day she gave it to him. But turn it in. He was too weak to do that. Just like he was too weak to pull himself off this mission. He should. But Kensi was here and he couldn't leave her. God, if anything happened to her and he wasn't here. He'd never survive. So, instead he tried to be in the moment. The here and now. He could tell that Callen and Sam sensed something was off with him. But thankfully they didn't say anything. Yet. And, Kensi well she was too focused on kicking ass with the competition to notice anything wrong.

But Hetty. All knowing – all seeing Hetty. Terrifying Hetty. She'd already left him three voice-messages and four text messages. He was treading water, and knew that sooner or later either a wave or a shark was gonna wipe him out. He didn't have a clue which one he preferred.

"Deeks?"

"Hey Deeks? Earth to Deeks!" Sam said standing in front of Deeks who was sitting on the ground, leaning against the chain link fence staring into space.

"DEEKS!" Sam said as he shook Deeks' shoulder.

Between the unexpected physical contact and the huge shadow blocking out the sun, Deeks realized that someone was there. He jumped.

"SHIT! Sam, don't scare me like that. What the HELL man. Ever hear of personal space." Deeks said, trying to get his heart beating back within his chest cavity. He broke out in a cold sweat.

"What do you mean. I've been calling you for the past ten minutes. PAY ATTENTION! We're on an opp. Get your head in the game before you get someone killed. Callen needs you. NOW!" Sam said with annoyance. But, secretly Sam was worried. He noticed everything. Too much.

"Yeah. Okay. I'm coming." Deeks said as he slowly got up off the ground, dusting his uniform pants. His heart was still beating a mile a minute as he approached Callen.

**Sorry for the cliffhanger again. It's got something to do with ending chapters and everything.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Author Note: Okay, so I had a talking down with my inner consciousness. IT wanted to take the story in one direction, my muse wanted to go somewhere else. But, I think my muse finally won.**

**So...because of the internal battle between Deeks vs No Deeks, this Chapter is shorter than expected. But, no worries the muse is gun hoe and is willing and able to write the next Chapter after some much needed chocolate. And, you'll all be happy to know that Deeks won out in the end. Yeah! Go Deeks.**

**Keep the comments, reading, following and the favorites coming. It's feeding my malnourished muse...**

**Oh, side note, I may be funny but that doesn't mean I can spell or know what grammar looks like. All errors are my own. Editors are too pricey for me right now. **

**DISCLAIMER: Woe is me, I'm neither rich, famous nor the owner of NCIS: LA. Darn, knew I should have invented the post-it. Does it count if I actually own CBS Corporation stock. Anyone? I own nothing but my imagination. Deeks...Calllen...come back...wait, sorry that was in my dream last night. Darn.**

Who knew that two ten-year olds could have more energy than an adrenaline kicked up sugar rush.

"Ugh Slow down Madison. My poor arm." Kensi said forcing the three of them to stop after racing down the block for the past five minutes. Kensi wanted to rub feeling back into her shoulder – especially since it felt like her shoulder had popped out of its socket. But she was too focused on catching her breath and taking in her surroundings. She looked behind her and realized she was much further way from the guys then she wanted. Kensi reached into her cargo pocket looking for her cell phone. Not finding it, she patted down all her pockets – still no phone.

"Damn" she whispered aware of big ears standing near her. An image of her phone connected to the car charger entered her mind. "_Stupid. Kensi. Real stupid._" Kensi berated herself. Thinking of what her next move would be, she felt eyes intently watching her. Waiting. Looking down to her right, intense blue eyes stared at her underneath long bangs – hiding what he was thinking. She squeezed Ryan's hand and gave him a bright smile.

"Arm still in one piece? Mine feels like its been pulled out of its socket. Is she always this energetic?" Kensi asked Ryan while she waited as Madison tied her shoes.

A slight grin appeared for a second. "Yeah. Actually she's calm today. You should have been here a couple of days ago when Chris was hiding the dog statues. She was bouncing off the walls. Literally." Ryan grinned again, "I think Chris promised her a bigger dog just to keep her from finding all the dog statues. She let it slip we'd been following them for a couple of days."

Kensi laughed at that. "Sounds like you'd both make great spies or agents."

"Agents?"

"You know, FBI Agents."

"Oh yeah. I get it. Nah, I want to join the Marines like my grandpa." Ryan said with a wistful look.

"Marines. Wow that's cool." Kensi said nonchalantly – internally she was ecstatic. Yet at the same time an image of Deeks as a Marine entered her mind. Somehow it was disturbing. And it made her wonder if Ryan would benefit from the Marines, or if the experience would somehow stifle him the same as if Deeks had been a Marine.

Kensi shook her head to get the visual of Deeks in a Marine uniform out of her mind. And as she looked to the left she noticed an object next to the far back fence of an abandoned house not far from where they stood.

"No way. That's too easy." Kensi said out loud with a huge grin. She looked down at the now quite little girl and realized that Madison was barely holding in her enthusiasm. Without even realizing where Madison was dragging her to, the game was over and the little girl never did break the rules. She simply led the way and waited for Kensi to open her eyes and really look at her surroundings like a great agent is supposed to do. Be aware of your surroundings at all times – paying particular attention to details large and small.

Grinning, Kensi released Ryan's hand and hugged the little girl standing next to her.

"You're the best Madison! I'll make sure you get your toy doggy." Kensi said. They were all standing in the road close to the curb when two large vans drove past, slowing as they approached the three scavenger hunters.

As the vehicles drove past down the road toward the dead-end not too far from them, the temperature seemed to have dropped by twenty-five degrees. Madison now clutched Kensi's hand and leaned into her. Still as a mouse. While Ryan repositioned himself as if to protect Kensi and Madison from harm. He had a death-grip on Kensi's hand to the point that her fingers started to cramp. Evil had arrived. Once exuberant children were now cautious and apprehensive. Kensi didn't like this change at all. Seeing Ryan at this moment, Kensi fully understood why he reminded her so much of Deeks. And it broke her heart.


	5. Chapter 5

**Author Note: Hope you like it, about to pick up in tempo and pace probably the next chapter. Thanks for reading.**

**DISCLAIMER: Don't own NCIS: LA, only my imagination.**

The hot sun beat down onto Deek's head, back and shoulders. Sweat ran down his back and plastered his hair to his sweaty forehead. So engrossed in his own internal struggle, he noticed none of these physical ailments until he tried shifting against the bench he was leaning against, and realized that no matter how he turned, twisted or leaned, the discomfort would not let up.

"_God, I really the desert._" Deeks thought.

For the first time in a while he looked up from where he sat and noticed the mid-morning sun.

"Shit!" Deeks said as he looked down at his watch for the first time today.

"You've got to be kidding me." He said, realizing how late it was. It was still early morning, not yet 10:30 am, but considering they'd been there since 6:30 am and the scavenger hunt started just after 9:00 am. It was late. Too late for Kensi not to have either called or turned back their way for a status check.

Wondering where Sam and Callen were, Deeks pulled out his cell phone to make sure it wasn't on vibrate or that he hadn't missed a call. But, everything was in order and there were no missed calls. No missed calls from Kensi.

Deeks pressed Kensi's name on his phone, waiting to hear her voice. It rang the normal three times, then her voice mail. He tried again, but this time he thought he heard her ring tone echo in the parking lot somewhere.

"What the hell?" Deeks said as he again got her voice mail. Deeks got up from his spot on the dust filled grass and walked over to their vehicle, a rental. Standing next to the black SUV Deeks pressed Kensi's name on his phone and waited. After the first ring, Deeks heard her phone ring coming from their vehicle. Not having the keys, he peered in and as expected, there sat her cell phone plugged into the cell phone charger. "_Great. Just what we need. Better find the guys and let them know._" Deeks thought as he moved toward the other teams waiting.

Just as he spotted Callen and Sam talking to two of the suspects, Deeks grabbed three bottles of water from one of the coolers scattered throughout the ball park. The temperatures were in the high nineties today with only a very dry hot breeze.

"I wish this was a cold beer instead of crappy water." Deeks mumbled to himself, taking a gulp of cool water, as he approached his team mates.

Callen, catching Deeks eye, excused himself from the group and approached Deeks out of ear shot. Giving Callen one of the water bottles, Deeks asked "Have you heard or seen Kensi?" Deeks looked down at his watch again, realizing it had been almost an hour since he's seen or heard from her today. He was getting concerned.

His concern must have shown on his face because Callen dragged him further away from the group to a more secluded spot, but well within Sam's visual range.

"No. I haven't seen her. Why, is something wrong?"

"I don't know. But she left her cell phone in the vehicle. And, when she left, you know her and you know how competitive she can be. She went in the opposite direction of everyone else. She's alone Callen. I'm concerned."

Called looked at this watch and a sense of dread engulfed him.

"Is she armed?" Callen asked.

Deeks had to think about that for a minute. The past couple of days only Sam had been carrying due to the nature of the exercise.

"Yeah. She has her Sig and I think two of her knifes."

A little relieved at this, Called nodded his head, and looked over at Sam. Callen made eye contact with Sam and Sam left the group to join the two agents.

"What's wrong?" Sam asked as Deeks handed him a bottle of water.

"Kensi's been out of sight for almost an hour and she left her cell phone behind." Deeks said cringing waiting for Sam to explode.

"She WHAT! Of all the irresponsible things..." Sam exploded.

Callen, aware of their surroundings calmed Sam down. "Not now. Let's go. We'll come up with an excuse to leave the staging area."

As they walked away from the other groups waiting, Deeks knew that if anything bad happened to Kensi because he wasn't paying attention, he would never forgive himself. And neither would the two senior agents walking next to him.

"Come on Kensi. Where are you?"


	6. Chapter 6

As Kensi and her companions approached the coveted Bulldog statue, at the back of her mind she couldn't shake this bad feeling she had ever since those two vans drove past minutes ago. Something didn't fit. There was something off-putting as the van slowed. But, more importantly, just outside her reach, there was something eerily familiar about the lead van driver. As if she knew him somehow. Strange. Kensi wanted to ask Ryan if he knew the guys in the vans. But it felt like a lot of pressure to put on a ten-year old. So instead Kensi focused on the mission at hand – retrieving the Bulldog and coming in first. She felt giddy like the first time she tracked her dad and caught him off guard.

This exercise didn't just involve finding the Bulldog statue. It also included finding a Red Zone site that was segregated from the buildings and trees. It would be within a three-mile radius of where the statue was found. After finding the site, she would need to locate a special walkie-talkie. She would then place the statue in the center of the Red Circle along with the explosive device Kensi had on her. Once she was outside the blast radius, behind the Black Cones, she was to get on the walkie-talkie, give her call sign "Queen of Hearts," and the walkie-talkie serial number and wait for Command & Control to active the dog's homing beacon. Once it showed up, Kensi detonates the explosive which would turn the statue into a pile of ruble and produce red smoke that could be seen for fifteen miles, marking her location. Then all she'd have to do is wait for her ride. And gloat that she was number one – THE best special agent ever.

"Almost there." Kensi said with a giggle. Thankfully the guys, but especially Deeks, wasn't here to see her act like a girl.

The three of them stopped right next to the statue. All three stared with big wide eyes, mouths agape at goggling at their prize – a Bulldog with a collar that said "PROPERTY OF US MARINE CORPS."

Kensi felt a tug on her left arm and looked away from her prize and into big green eyes staring back. Madison, reverting back to a shy little girl Kensi first met asked her "Can I carry the doggy for you?"

"What about Fuzzy?" Kensi asked.

Madison handed Fuzzy to her and went a couple of feet away to bunch of shrubs. She bent down, and as she walked back, Kensi noticed something new in the little girl's hands. It was a pink pocket-book big enough to hold the real dog sleeping in Kensi's hand.

"I'll just put Fuzzy in his carrying case. See." Madison said with a twinkle in her eyes as she took Fuzzy back and placed the little dog in the pink pocket-book. The strap went over her head, leaving Madison's hands free for the Bulldog.

Kensi smiled, realizing that this little girl had played her. Big. And won. "Sure. You can carry the statue if you want. Let me know if it's too heavy. We can always take turns."

"Oh, that's okay. Ryan can always carry Fuzzy."" Madison leaned down and hugged the dog statue to her chest, a huge smile lighting up her face. "See. It's not heavy."

Kensi laughed, "Okay. Now let's find the next thing on the list – the Red Zone. We're looking for black caution cones and a red circle on the ground away from all these houses. Point me in the right direction. Upward and onwards."

As they walked away from the fence the sound of two little stomachs growled, letting everyone know that they were hungry. Kensi, who originally planned on taking her backpack with her , realized early on that she had not only left her cell phone in the vehicle but her backpack as well. But thanks to her dad's training, she was prepared with water, protein bars and of course candy that was all stuffed into her cargo pants pockets. She loved the pockets in these uniforms.

Kensi looked at her watch, and realizing she had made wonderful time decided they had enough time to a well deserving snack break. Kensi looked around and found an old picnic table not too far away.

"Perfect. Come Chickies. It's snack time." Kensi told her two young friends. With a huge grin, she patted one of her pockets, "And we even have dessert. Who here likes Nerds?"

Both kids jumped up and down raising their hands high in the sky saying in unison, "I DO! I DO!"

Kensi laughed, "Me too." and the three of them went to sit down, ready for a feast.

Kensi pulled out two bottles – a water and blue Gatorade. She then pulled out three protein bars. She was pleasantly surprised they hadn't melted in this heat, but realized that they'd been in the same pocket with the now cool bottle of water.

Both kids devoured their protein bars as if they hadn't eaten for days. This made Kensi pause and really look at her new young friends. She noticed for the first time that Ryan wore long sleeves and pants in ninety-degree weather. Madison had on more weather appropriate clothing. But they both looked way too skinny and had dark smudges under their eyes – showing signs of not enough sleep. Their cloths had seen better days and appeared too sizes too small. "_Maybe I should meet their parents_." Kensi thought to herself as she retried dessert.

"Okay – hands."

Both kids gave Kensi their hands, creating a cup to hold the coveted Nerds.

"YUM! Kensi you're the BEST!" Ryan said as he dropped the Nerds into his mouth, licking the sticky ones from his hand. All three of them were in bliss and it showed.

"I know. I just wish we had Twinkies." Kensi said as they all had a wistful look on their faces.

**AUTHOR NOTE: Thank you again for the great comments, for reading and following the story. I so appreciate it. I'm a little in my promise to post 2 chapters at ... Can I just say I so LOVE the spell checker/grammar checker under the Copy-N-Paste method. Can you please send me a full version of this software please. It rocks 50 times better than MS Word! (my spelling and grammar still sucks...way too long sentences - hey literary license:) Oh, and Deeks and Callen say hi, they'll be in Chapter 8:)**

**DISCLAIMER: Sadly, I do not Own NCIS: LA. Just my awesome imagination! Deeks...Callen...come this way PPPPPPPPPPPPLLLLLLLEEEEEEEEAAAASSSSSEEEEEE!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Author Note: First Thank you to everyone who has read the story, submitted a comment, or is following the adventure. I really appreciate it. Short Chapter. More to come soon. Keep the comments and favorites coming. **

**DISCLAIMER: I sadly do not own NCIS: LA, just my imagination...Darn I was hoping it wasn't just a dream...Deeks...Callen...come back.**

The three of them have been searching for the "Red Zone" for the past ten minutes with no luck. Kensi looked past the next group of trees and noticed an empty field less than a mile away. A possibility. She wanted to check it out, but it would take her further away from the ball park and the guys. She looked down at her watch, and realized she'd been out of contact for a while now.

"Shit!" Kensi whispered to herself. As she debated with herself as to what her next move should be, she noticed a farm on the other side of the empty field. It, unlike the nearby houses they had just past appeared to be occupied. "_Maybe they have a phone I can use. It would be faster than backtracking the way we came_." Kensi thought, calculating the distance she's traveled since leaving the ball park. At least five or more miles. Plus, they were a ways from the road, now in the back of the old houses that littered the street she had followed this whole time. "_How is that even possible?! Oh well._"

"Come on guys. New plan." Kensi told her new young friends. She started toward the farm-house.

Kensi had been so focused on her new destination that it took a good five minutes before she realized two things – one that both children were way too quiet, and two that she was almost dragging Madison in her wake.

Kensi stopped in her tracks and looked back at Madison who had a petrified look on her face. Concerned, Kensi released Ryan's hand and rushed to Madison's side.

"Maddy. What's wrong?"

The little girl, fighting back tears whispered "We have to go back. Now. PLEASE!"

Kensi, not understanding, asked "Do you know who lives there?"

"We do." Ryan whispered so low that it took a second to understand what he'd just implied.

"What?"

Ryan moved to Madison's side, hugging her to him as if to give his strength to the little girl.

Still not understanding fully what was going on, Kensi was looking at both Ryan and Madison when she saw a look cross Ryan's face that no child should ever have. TERROR.

At the corner of her eye, Kensi noticed movement and realized they were no longer alone. The driver of the lead van was coming their way – fast. He was not happy. He was armed and not alone.


	8. Chapter 8

**Author Note: Hi everyone. This will be a short chapter. Head's up that I'll be changing the Rating to "M" starting Chapter 9. Anyway, hope you keep reading, and keep the comments and favorites coming. I so appreciate it. All errors are my own.**

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own NCIS: LA, just my imagination. Darn, I was so close...Deeks...Callen...you can always come this way...**

For the past ten minutes, Callen and Sam were debating on the best way to go after Kensi without blowing their cover. The only good news was that Kensi was at least armed. The bad, they didn't know where she was, or have a way to communicate with her until/if she checked in the walk-talkies scattered god knows where.

Callen hated that they had to resort to cell phones to communicate with the team and with OPS. But, with all these Special Forces teams and their high-tech communications capabilities, Sam didn't want to take the chance of someone picking up on their encrypted transmission and get wind that something was up. Hetty agreed with Sam's assessment, but that didn't mean Callen had to like it. And, because of the type of training exercises these were, Eric wasn't able to hack into the surveillance feed since it was on a close-circuit network. Which meant doing everything the old-fashioned way – low-tech.

Deeks was oblivious to most of the debate going on between Sam and Callen – having tuned them out, instead he was drowning in self-hatred. If only he had told Hetty he needed today off. Callen and Sam would have paid more attention to Kensi. But, instead they naïvely trusted Deeks to have Kensi's back. Not only was Kensi out there alone, possibly in danger, but he knew that he'd lost Callen and Sam's trust – to have their backs, to have Kensi's.

It didn't help matters that Deeks was running on empty. He hardly ate or slept. And what little sleep he did get was riddled with nightmares so intense that instead of sleep he fought to stay awake to keep them at bay. He was good at hiding things. He didn't think Callen or Sam suspected anything was wrong. But Kensi and Hetty...

"Deeks?"

"Hey Deeks, wake up. It's time to go." Callen said.

Sam didn't like this bad vibe he was getting off Deeks, he decided to really LOOK at him. Now, for the first time, Sam noticed the dark shadows under Deeks eyes, the gaunt look to his face, the pallor to his skin even under the sun burn that was starting to take over, the way Deeks clothing hung on his Six foot plus frame. But it was Deeks eyes that really made Sam pause – the hidden pain and was that terror he saw. Almost reminded Sam of Callen when bad things came up from his past. Deeks was hurting. And Sam didn't like to see his family in pain. Sam and Callen made eye contact, silent communication was exchanged. New parameters were added without saying a word. Find Kensi and look out for Deeks. The three of them snuck out of the staging area on foot and went in search of their missing team member. All the while, Sam and Callen kept laser focus on Deeks.

They had just turned the first bend in the road when an explosion was heard not too far away, but there was nothing on the confiscated walkie-talkie. Not thinking, the three of them started to run toward the red smoke shooting into the air like a beacon warning of agent in trouble.


	9. Chapter 9

**Author Note: Sorry for the delay in posting. Reading all these really cool stories on fanfiction took over my life for a little while. It's my secret addiction. A HUGE THANK YOU to kensi54382 who is my new Beta Reader. I've finally arrived, I have my very own Beta Reader. How cool. Errors are still my own. Hope you like the story. Oh - I havent' changed the Rating yet. **

**DISCLAIMER - I don't own anything but my imagination. Man, I keep waking up thinking I've hit it big and they are mine...Deeks...Callen...pleassssse.**

Kensi knew she was in trouble. Her new friends were frozen in place, terror oozing out of their pores. The man approaching her little group had a malevolent yet serene look on his face. He was surrounded by a dozen heavily armed, dangerous looking men.

_This is not going to end well at all._ Kensi thought as she tried to figure a way out without killing herself or her young friends.

As the leader approached, Ryan stepped in front of Kensi, facing off against certain pending doom.

Kensi, without thinking, touched Ryan's shoulder. "It'll be fine. You'll see," Kensi whispered to the very brave boy in front of her, trying to make herself believe her own words.

Kensi, still trying for a way out, mentally and physically prepared herself as the group reached their location.

The leader stopped a couple of feet away; his men formed a horse shoe around the small group of three. He looked with contempt at the boy standing in front of Kensi. Madison leaned her whole body into Kensi's back, trying her hardest to hide. Kensi, out of sight of the others, reached behind and grabbed Madison's hand, while at the same time repositioning the little girl so Kensi still had unrestricted access to her weapon, though having access to her Sig and her knives would not do much good being out numbered three to one, or more likely eight to one considering her young friends. Right at this moment, Kensi wished she had her team hiding in the trees as back up. Or her cell phone.

The leader ignored Kensi, instead he addressed Ryan. "Boy, who said you could leave the compound?"

Ryan, contemplating on the best course of action, knowing he was about to get the shit beat out of him and go without food for another two weeks regardless, decided on doing the brave thing, not necessarily the smart thing.

Ryan stepped away from Kensi toward the man who was his father in blood only.

"Sir. I..."


	10. Chapter 10

**Author Note: Sorry for the short chapters. And, for the cliff hangers. Hey, I need something besides my awesome writing to keep you coming back for more. Trying to make it up to you by posting 3 chapters in night:) And, again A HUGE THANK YOU to kensi54382 who is my new Beta Reader.**

**DISCLAIMER: I know, when I make it BIG as a novelist, then I can own NCIS: LA or CBS. Darn, you mean I haven't made it big yet. Will Deeks and Callen still want me...Of course who am I kidding:)**

_Ryan stepped away from Kensi toward the man who was his father in blood only._

"Sir. I was only gone for a little while. All my chores are finished. I was on my way back."

Knowing what was coming his way, Ryan took another step further away from Kensi and closer to danger.

Ryan hadn't stopped his forward motion and was unprepared for the force of the blow to his head. The force, so strong, propelled the too thin eleven year old backwards landing in a heap at Kensi's feet.

Shocked, Kensi was unprepared for the brutality of the attack and was unable to catch Ryan as he slammed into her shins.

Bending down to check on Ryan, but keeping Madison protected, Kensi yelled, "WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT? YOU COULD HAVE KILLED HIM. HE'S ONLY A CHILD FOR CHRIST SAKE."

The leader didn't acknowledge Kensi's existence, simply stared with soulless eyes.

"The boy knew better. Didn't you?" the leader said with no emotion, looking at the injured boy with contempt.

Trying to catch his breath and not show any pain, Ryan looked up but didn't make eye contact. "Yes Sir."

Satisfied with the end results, the leader, Lawrence Parnel, noticed for the first time the intruder within their mitts. The woman who was showing too much attention to the boy as far as Parnel was concerned. He'd trained the boy much like he trained his dogs. Actually he treated his dogs way better than the pathetic excuse of a boy still on the ground. His dogs had a purpose, they were great hunters, the boy could barely do a fifth of the physical manual labor required to run a successful farm. He was a waste of good shelter, food and water. The more Parnel watched the woman with the boy, the more annoyed he became that she would undo his effort in "training" the boy to do what he wanted, when he wanted and then when he was bored he'd use him for sport. This needed to stop now. The boy's defiance was already too bold for his taste. Another lesson needed to be driven into the boy.

Parnel's body posture changed in subtle ways. Ryan so in tune with the monster in front of him, knew the warning signs, but before he could warn Kensi, Parnel pounced hard.


	11. Chapter 11

Sam, Callen and Deeks ran down the street at full speed. They simply had one mission - find Kensi alive. After pushing hard for a good mile or so, Sam decided to stop and assess the situation at hand. Something about the explosion seemed off to Sam. But it was an unconscious feeling that waited in the background, slowly creeping in louder and louder until Sam had to really focus. And, when you're running straight into the unknown without a clear destination, any distraction could be life threatening.

Callen noticed the change in Sam's pace and slowed down to see what was wrong. Deeks, obvious to everyone and everything kept his pace until he felt his cell phone vibrate. Without breaking stride, Deeks answered his phone. A little breathy from all the physical exertion Deeks said without checking Caller ID, "What?"

Callen replied, "Where are you going man? Sam may have something. Get your ass back here now." The phone line went dead. Callen had hung up.

It took another minute or two for Deeks to really process what Callen had said and to react accordingly. Deeks tried to catch his breath as he fought the effects of the adrenaline coursing through his veins that was counter to his lack of energy from lack of sleep and food. Deeks waited where he was, not having enough energy reserves to waste on going backwards. He needed to maintain readiness for Kensi. The hot sun was relentless, causing Deeks to be even more physically uncomfortable then he already was.

A bottle of water appeared in front of him. He gulped half the bottle down and waited. Sam and Callen didn't like the shape Deeks was in. He was deteriorating right before their eyes.

"Well?" Deeks asked.

"The color of the smoke from the explosion is definitely Kensi's. But the strength of it - it's way off. The explosive material should have caused enough of a reaction to destroy the figurine and cause red smoke. What we just experienced - that - that was way too powerful. Something's not right. We need to know what to expect if we want to save Kensi. She's in real danger now," Sam said as he took his cell phone out and called the cavalry - calling Eric at OSP.

After a couple of minutes talking with Eric and Nell, they had a better location to search. As they started down the road again, gun fire could be heard not too far away. Without thinking all three pulled their weapons and ran toward danger. _Save Kensi!_

**Author Note: Hi, sorry for the cliff hanger again. But, come on you know you all love it! Koodos again to my wonderful Beta Reader -kensi54382. Ah, now for the big question that someone asked - Is Kensi Okay? I say, that's the wrong question to ask. The right one...Is Deeks okay?... **

**DISCLAIMER: SEE DISCLAIMER FROM CHAPTER 1 THROUGH 10...Deeks...Callen...let's be friends:) **


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